Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible. This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog 2. Natio […]

My new year’s resolution was to make more time to read for pleasure, principally to ensure I was switching off from work in the evenings and to get away from constantly looking at screens. It’s been a qualified success. I’ve just finished Michael Crichton’s “The Lost World”, which has got me thinking about dinosaurs and their extinction. Inevitably, though, […]

When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its Calls to Action in 2015, I emphasized the need for Canadian law schools to respond to the call for mandatory training for all law students in Indigenous Law. This is a necessary prerequisite towards reconciliation, and in training the next generation of lawyers to decolonize our legal system. That sam […]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec. PERSONNES : La juge de première instance n’aurait pas d […]

Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General is building a new courthouse in Toronto that will combine most of the city’s criminal courts, including all three youth courts, in one location downtown. Designed by a world-renowned architect and filled with technological innovation, it is being celebrated as a step forward for access to justice in the city. But ac […]

Written wholly by Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, and PhD candidate at the University of Western Ontario In February 2018, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics released a report that summarized issues and recommendations concerning the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The report was auth […]

On March 6, 2018, the Ontario government tabled Bill 203, Pay Transparency Act, 2018 to close the wage gap between women and men in the province by imposing significant obligations and restrictions on employers relating to the disclosure of information about the compensation of employees and prospective employees. The government says it will spend up to $50 […]

Canadian lawyers have a legal duty of resolute or zealous advocacy. Law society codes of conduct direct lawyers to represent clients “resolutely and honourably” (FLS Model Code, Rule 5.1-1). The Supreme Court of Canada says that a core aspect of a lawyer’s duty of loyalty is the “duty of commitment to the client’s cause (sometimes referred to as ‘zealous rep […]

Elon Musk spoke at SXSW and emphasized his concerns about artificial intelligence and why it needs to be regulated. What is the issue? Elon says AI is more dangerous than nuclear warheads. Right now, AI is created for specific tasks, such as driving a car, playing a game, responding to our voice commands, or providing personal recommendations. AI today is no […]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about. For this last week: 1. R v Barton, 2017 ABCA 216 [1] The jury system is probably the most familiar symbol and manifestation of the Rule of Law in this country. It is enshr […]

by Stephanie Hannah If you’re like me, you’re passionate about having a career that challenges you and a family to share all of life’s accomplishments with. But, is there really an opportunity for both? More...

By George McLaren You must have heard the clichés repeated many times over. “There’s no rest for the wicked, (or the righteous, for that matter),” depending on the degree of fondness ascribed to the subject....

By: Iaroslavna Serenko Working at a large law firm in Toronto, I sadly observed tens of files on every desk each day. With such enormous amount of work, feelings of accomplishment, happiness, and relief are...

by Kate Lucoff Creating the perfect balance between career and personal life has always been a challenge in any profession, but particularly when it comes to such high demanding professions as a lawyer or...

By Carlos Vera Balancing the professional and personal life could be a difficult goal in the modern life. In some professions this could result almost impossible. One of the most demanding and time consuming professions...